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South Korean Football Association to Expand Election Council to Over 10,000 Members
🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

South Korean Football Association to Expand Election Council to Over 10,000 Members

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Sources not specified New plan
  • South Korea's K-Football Innovation Committee plans to expand the Football Association's election council to over 10,000 members.
  • The expansion aims to include more players and coaches, reflecting the sport's large registered participant base.
  • The committee is also discussing ways to rationalize the national team coach selection process.

South Korea's K-Football Innovation Committee aims to significantly reform the election process for the Football Association's president by expanding the electorate to over 10,000 members. The committee, co-chaired by Park Ji-sung, announced its plan following a meeting in Seoul, stating that the adjusted election council will be finalized by August.

We plan to prepare an election council reform plan that reflects the characteristics of football, based on the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee's reform plan.

— Park Ji-sungExplaining the committee's plan to expand the election council.

The proposed overhaul seeks to incorporate the specific characteristics of football within the broader framework of sports association reforms. This expansion will see a substantial increase in representation from player and coach categories, moving from the current approximately 200 members to a much larger body. This move mirrors a recent expansion by the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee, which increased its election council from 2,244 to over 92,000 members, granting voting rights to officials, delegates, coaches, referees, and eligible players.

We will finalize the adjustment plan by August and recommend a scale of over 10,000 members.

— Park Ji-sungDetailing the timeline for the election council expansion.

Discussions are ongoing regarding how to best include the nearly 140,000 registered amateur football players in the election process, acknowledging the difficulty of including everyone. The committee is also exploring options for electronic voting, considering budget constraints and the FIFA principle of secret and independent elections. Beyond the election council, the committee is addressing the independence of the technical committee and rationalizing the selection process for the national team manager, a process currently conducted through public recruitment as per the Sports Association's recommendations.

It is realistically difficult to include everyone related to football in the election council. We are discussing how to handle amateur players, ensuring they are not excluded as much as possible.

— Park Ji-sungAddressing the challenge of including amateur players in the expanded electorate.

Concerns have been raised about the current public recruitment method, which selects managers and their entire support staff, including coaches, medical teams, and analysts. This is seen as outdated in modern football, where cohesive 'teams' are crucial. The committee is deliberating on granting more autonomy to individual sports associations in their manager selection while ensuring efficiency and fairness. Furthermore, the committee discussed improving the youth football development system, focusing on enhancing player registration, tournament structures, coaching, facilities, and international competition support.

We are considering all options, including budget issues. We are discussing the most rational and best direction.

— Park Ji-sungRegarding the possibility of electronic voting.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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